Smell
 

Hay people...i have a 98' Mazda Protege and it seems when i go on a long trip or i cain the car....i get a kind of bad smell...sorta like a stewed cabbage...comming threw the air ducts...can anyone help me as to the whereabouts this problem is occuring....p.s i checked the air filter and it is brand new :)

Your air ducts are just below the windshield, under the hood. Maybe something crawled up in there and died. Also, have you tried switching the airflow from coming from the outside, to using the air already in the cabin. There should be a switch which regulates that right above the intensity lever 1-2-3-4. Goodluck.

Thanks for the info....but even if i had the airflow different....it doesnt change...it wont make any kind of smell until i accelerate really hard (allmost redlinein) or recently went on a long trip and it made the smell...but for only about 20 seconds....:S and i cant figure it out...i am taking it in for a service soon...so they should be able to locate the problem....my guess....oil leaking when engine is under hig pressure..and burning off.

is the smell sulfur (i.e. rotten eggs)? it might be the reaction on your catalytic converter, when you floor it and push the car hard it tends (I think) to run a little rich and the exhaust loads the catalytic converter up with a chemical (sulfur compound from the gasoline) that is then catalized into a stinky smelling compound when the engine starts to run lean. So if you have been tooling around town with stop and go and then get on the highway for a cruise it runs lean on the highway and you get the smell.

One thing to try is a different brand of gas, different brands have slightly different amounts of sulfur in them.

Yeah i gathered that sulpher smell...but it isnt like that.....it smells like cabbage....not close to rotten eggs...otherwise i would have known the prob thanks anyway....and yes the engine running lean could be the cause of it....but what do you mean try a different gas? i put petrol in my car...(i am australian if gas = petrol then hehe sorry)

Yes, gas=petrol. Not all fuels are formulated exactly the same (the vary from the processing that each refienery uses fro cracking crude). As a very crude example the diesel fuel that you can get in Europe burns much cleaner than what is available in the US. There are variances in the process for each of the refineries and also for each of the oil types that are extracted from the ground (not sure which ones are better for gasoline).

hehe yeh ok....we have a thing called Optimax down here...it is high octain fuel...should burn stronger...and use less fuel...told to clean your engine out too...but more expensive...dont know if i should fill up with that from now on..

sulpher +rotten egg smell= shit get to a shop ,, check and change your battery
Bruce

Higher octane has nothing to do with burning stronger.

High octane fuel will actually be harder to burn, as thats what octane rating is, resistance to detonation / burning. With a strong enough spark system that won't be a problem, but you should use the lowest octane you can without causing ignition retarding due to knock (which, with many newer vehicles with "smarter" ECUs that can retard/advance accordingly, can often be 91+ octane).

But high octane is NOT going to be cheaper MPG unless on lower octane you lose significantly more power from the retarded timing, and have to use significantly wider throttle openings and therefore more fuel due to that to make the same amount of power. Cheap and high performance do not usually go hand in hand.

I'm not saying you shouldn't use high octane fuel - I'm just saying that using higher octane than you need/can make use of is detrimental. For example if you put in some C116 you'd noticibly lose power on a stock vehicle, as it would be unable to burn the fuel correctly.

I guess I can see the sulfur smell as a concern from the batery, so that might be something to take a look at... but if you are leaking sulfuric acid (even dilute as in a battery) your also gonna have visible signs of a problem.

It does not mean the catalytic converter is bad... it just means that it is doing its job. Certain types of gas (petrol) have a higher sulfur content. So, if you run the engine rich for a while and then lean it out after that and you will get the smell... other than trying a different brand of gas there is nothing you can do about it (just like the TSB says) it's just chemestry.

But he said that it was not a sulfur so it is time to look elsewhere...

might be worth checking the heater core like TheMAN mentioned, they get moldy - also you can have leaves and shit in your blower fan. this stuff all smells bad.